Chrono Trigger: Protecting Our Future
by Paleontole
Summary: The fall of Guardia from the view of a Porre soldier. One who went from admiring the heroes to conquering their home. Are they friend or foe? Will they need to come together to fight something bigger than themselves?
1. Long Coming Union

**Chrono Trigger: Protecting Our Future**

_The fall of Guardia from the view of a Porre soldier. One who went from admiring the heroes to conquering their home. Are they friend or foe? Will they need to come together to fight something bigger than themselves?_

I don't own Chrono Trigger or Chrono Cross, or the characters and settings that appeared in them. Some new characters and settings will be within though.

_Shortly after the events of Chrono Trigger, 1000 AD_

**Long Coming Union**

Long banners hang down from the walls, colored red on one side, and orange on the other, with a black figure of a dragon in the middle. The banner of Guardia. And what a good day it is to be there. The long coming union between the Princess and Crono is finally here, after days of preparation. Horns outside of the castle play loudly into the distance, possibly even audible from the village down below. The late afternoon wind rushes into the halls of the castle, making the banners wave gently back and forth, rubbing against the stone walls.

Lavos was defeated, and the heroes had dispersed back into their respective time periods, to continue on and pick up where their lives left off. Crono often wondered how they were doing, and even what they were doing. Despite all the danger and sorrow of their adventures, he was glad it came together the way it did. Had it not, would he be standing next to Marle right now?

The two figures move forward, to be greeted by a thunderous response of cheers and clapping. They look at each other and smile at the people assembled outside, people from Guardia, Porre, and beyond. On the left was Crono, dressed in white and blue, with boots that were also white. A fancy cape tied at the front came down almost to the floor. Right at his side is Marle, wearing a beautiful light pink dress, and a veil. She clutches a bouquet of dark red flowers in her hands as she moves slowly along with Crono.

They move one step at a time along a seemingly never ending burgundy and gold rug of the castle hallway. The wooden double doors open slowly with the aid of two castle workers, revealing an even larger crowd outside, waving and cheering as well. Crono and Marle look at each other briefly before she clutches the bouquet even tighter, winding up and throwing it with quite some force up into the air. She watches as it goes through the air, nearly lost in sea of balloons and other decorations, landing in the large assemblage of people.

Despite the happy occasion that is going on, there are still worries in the back of Crono's mind. So many people had showed up to celebrate their marriage, and for that he was happy, but one person is missing. One very important person. His mother. The last time he had seen her was when she accidentally ran into the time portal, chasing his cat, right after the defeat of Lavos. Did he not search for her? Oh, did he search. And he still wasn't left without hope just yet. All that goes on around him makes him put the topic to rest, temporarily, at least.

The new couple wave to various people within the crowd as they keep moving forward. Eventually, they pass a pair of men, right near the front of the crowd. Two men that stand out from the rest. Both are Porre soldiers, one wearing chest and arm armor that was made of some type of sturdy material, while his pants and boots were less protected. His entire attire was navy blue in color, except his black boots. He also wears a similar colored helmet, one that covers his entire head, including his face, with a black visor at the eyes. His visor reflects both the afternoon sun, and the large number of white flower petals that are being released into the wind. The second soldier is much less covered, he wears no helmet, revealing dark brown hair and eyes that match. All of his clothing is dark blue as well, as was the case for most Porre soldiers, but his are made of cloth and leather.

"True love, what a thing, eh?" The one soldier says, looking over to the one wearing the helmet.

"Yeah..." His covered head slowly follows the movement of the two newly weds as they walk past.

The first soldier continues looking at the other for a few more moments, before saying suddenly, "Owen."

Owen's head finally tilts at the tone of voice of his counterpart. "Yeah?"

"You alright?" He asks, with a little concern evident in his voice, narrowing his eyes.

A few flower petals float gently past the pair, hitting against their clothes. Most of them simply fall to the ground, to be swept away by moving feet, while others stick, requiring a flick of the wrist to be removed.

"Yeah, of course." Owen looks forward again lazily.

"How is that wife of yours?" The other one says, trying to make conversation.

"Oh, she's fine.." The voice gets a bit muffled by the helmet, but remains audible.

A slight pause comes in between the next question. "...And your boy?" He goes to looking straight forward again as well.

"Behaved...doing well, what more can be asked of a kid?"

His partner lets out a soft chuckle, barely audible over the crowd. "How true."

"What about you?" Owen asks, turning the upper part of his body to face his friend. He wiggles his gloved fingers around in a bored manner.

"Oh, me? Eh...I'm not one for love. Not me." He says, shrugging the topic off.

"Pff." The figure under the helmet scoffs. "How can you say that after seeing such a pair like them?" He gestures one arm to Crono and Marle, who are farther away now, who would also not be visible, except the crowd had begun to part both ways to make a path for them to leave, to wherever their destination may be.

"Living heroes no doubt. Doesn't mean I am fit for true love though. Gosh what good people they are.." He says with sincere admiration.

"Yeah..." Owen mimics his friends tone, and adds in, "I hope I can meet them some day.."

"Yup." He responds with some enthusiasm, but then adds in sarcastically, "But until then you're stuck following around the politicians who actually do get to meet them. Sound fun?"

"Of course...of course..." Owen responds, with the best serious tone he can use. His friend finally breaks a smile, but upon hearing the Porre Mayor's voice in the background, he tries to hold back any sign of laughter, and adopts a more formal posture, taking a quick peek over his shoulder. He smiles and gives a friendly nod to the mayor, who does the same back, before moving away towards the castle. The soldier slowly turns around again.

"What do you think about that new Warmarshal he hired?" He asks quietly. The once large crowd already began to break up some minutes ago, after Crono and Marle had passed and left the scene. Some walk down a dirt path in front of the castle, while others break up into small groups, chatting amongst themselves, most likely about the days events.

"Hm..." Owen ponders a few moments over this new question. He moves his hand up to his chin despite the fact there is a helmet in the way. "I heard the man is a genius..." He continues to think and adds on, "He's contributed many inventions and innovations to the military..." He lowers his hand back to its original position at his side. "And a good soldier to boot."

"Yeah..." His friend says distantly, as if not convinced of something. "It's just odd. He spits out things even faster than that Lucca girl. And she spends all her time with that stuff."

Owen shrugs. "A bit odd, but not that odd, I guess."

"And he's suppose to be our superior, yet I've never even met the guy, how does he expect to gain respect when he is so distant from everyone?" Just moments after completing his sentence a hand comes from behind, landing firmly on his shoulder. "Huh?" He spins around on his heels and eyes widen. Owen's head turns, seeing the movement out of the corner of his eye, and watches the new figure from his black visor.

"W-Warmarshal Korlad. I didn't see you there.." The soldier says nervously.

"Ha Ha. Don't worry, I enjoy criticism, especially the hard type." The man says. He wears a big helmet, flat at the top, made of steel. He wears a red cape, lined with gray, that goes all the way down to the ground. Long hair comes out from the helmet, colored gray, almost the same shade as the lining of his cape. Clearly visible hazel eyes look back at the soldier, and they also wander briefly to Owen. "Let this be our meeting then. Unfortunate it has to seem negative, but I take no offense, gentlemen." The deep voice comes out from a hole in the helmet. He pats the soldiers shoulder before retracting his arm. "I understand you don't know or trust me yet. I also understand jobs like this are boring at best, but know it is appreciated. Me and the Mayor will be giving our congratulations to the King on the wedding of his daughter, and then discussing business with him, before going back to Porre." He lifts his helmet up, revealing a somewhat aged face, he holds the helmet with one arm at his side and nods at the two. "Stay here until then." He spins on one foot and walks quickly into the castle. Two pairs of eyes follow him the entire way into the castle until he disappears out of sight.

"Why is it..." The soldier begins to say after a long sigh, before pausing for a moment, musing. "...That they tell us to come and escort them, but at the same time, tell us to stay away?"

Owen shrugs lightly, responding quietly. "Maybe they don't trust our aim?"

"Hah hah.." His friend chuckles in return. "Perhaps. If anything ever did happen they'd be watching out for us along with whatever other dangers." He grins widely.

"Speak for yourself though, I think I have pretty damn good aim." Owen runs his hand along a rifle attached to his side, while a small pistol is attached to the other.

"Well...why don't they let you stay with them then?" He asks curiously, eagerly awaiting a response.

"..." Owen remains silent for a few seconds before adding in quickly, "Because I'm with you."

"Hmph." His friend stops quickly and changes the subject at the sound of a small gurgle in his stomach. "Hey. I wonder if they have any food around here. With all the money they spent on this they better have...I'm gonna go look, you wanna come?"

"Nah.." Owen shakes his head quickly.

"That Owen...always hard working that one." He snorts, holding in a laugh, turning to go on his quest for nutritional enlightenment.

Owen stands in the same place he was the entire time, standing out more and more as people all around depart their own ways. He stands amongst a pile of flower petals and other decorations that reached the ground outside the castle. The wind comes along and blows them by his feet as he begins to realize he is the last figure standing outside.

_All's well that ends well?_


	2. Fresh Complaints

**Chrono Trigger: Protecting Our Future**

_The fall of Guardia from the view of a Porre soldier. One who went from admiring the heroes to conquering their home. Are they friend or foe? Will they need to come together to fight something bigger than themselves?_

I don't own Chrono Trigger or Chrono Cross, or the characters and settings that appeared in them. Some new characters and settings will be within though.

I.

_4-5 years after the marriage of Crono and Marle_

_Time: 1005 AD_

Fresh Complaints

The Porre inn had expanded quite a bit over the past few years. The owner had decided to add a tavern onto it as well as the sleeping area. This decision made the Inn one of the most popular places to go in all of Porre. Most of the people in the town stop by at least once during the day, usually multiple times.

"Can I get you anything? You look like you could use a drink." A young bartender says, he wears a round green hat, and a plain brown and white shirt. He reaches down, swiping a few bread crumbs off the wooden counter.

"Oh? I look like I need one? That can't be good." The helmeted soldier says, sitting lazily on a stool. He shakes his head. "I shouldn't. Could get called on duty at any time these days."

"Yeah, I hear ya. If you need anything just--" The bartender says, stopping mid sentence, looking over at the door at the sound of loud feet stomping in. His eyes follow a large bearded man who plumps down on a stool a little ways down the counter.

"Damnit!" The man slams his fist down on the table. He looks over at an empty tankard nearby and knocks it off the counter.

"Hey, watch it." The bartender goes over and picks it up from the floor, placing it back on the counter. "You need something or ?"

"Anything decent you got."

"Yes sir." The bartender says. He reaches back, taking out a glass bottle and shakes it a little, pouring most of its contents into a large cup. He turns back, sliding it across the counter to the man, who stops it with his hand.

"Soon I won't be able to buy a decent drink anymore." The man spits out. He turns his head slightly to the side, seeing Owen a few seats down. He looks a bit annoyed at the sight of a soldier and turns away again. The rest of the people inside begin going back to their own conversations after the small distraction.

"What's that all about?" Owen asks quietly, his hidden gaze probably falling on the man a few stools down.

The bartender shakes his head"You know that blockade Warmarshal Korlad spoke of?"

"Finally being enforced?"

"This morning." He responds with similar volume. "Dropped two of Porre's biggest ships right off the shore of Guardia."

"I didn't think he would actually do it. A bit odd I think." Owen rubs the back of his helmet.

"He's been preaching that Guardia is backward for a long time now, with a King and all. You'd think restricting the Zenan bridge would be good enough to get his point across..." The bartender sighs. "Oh well. I think the merchants here are more upset about it than anyone in Guardia is, not much will be going on at the docks."

"Looks like anyone with a uniform on won't be too popular this week.."

"Appears not. Think you need a drink now?" The bartender smirks.

"It hurts to say, but I can't. They've had me all over lately, if an officer came in here and saw me.." Owen says, with apparent remorse.

"I understand." He gives a comprehending nod, still smiling.

"Speaking of...I should probably go and see what's going on anyways." Owen pulls the stool out from below him, standing up firmly, and pushing it back to where it was.

"Owen.." The bartender says quickly as Owen is about to leave, he stops and turns. "Take care of yourself."

"I will."

II.

"Warmarshal, sir." Owen says, peeking his head past a wooden door. Bright rays of afternoon sun follow inside as he leaves the door open and steps in a little more. Korlad sits writing frantically on a piece of paper, with his back turned to the door, his curly long gray hair trails down along his back. His helmet lays to the right side of the desk, near a small lit candle. The helmet has spots of rust, and even dried blood. Apparently he holds onto it for sentiment purpose rather than visual.

"Oh." He drops his writing utensil temporarily, turning the chair slightly to better face the visitor. "Didn't see you there.."

"Just wondering what the plans for this week are.." Owen says, trying not to sound intrusive.

"Oh, yes...let's see..." Korlad turns the chair back to facing the desk. He stands up and goes over to a poorly lit shelf in the corner of the room. He picks up a pile of papers, looking through them quickly. "I think..." One of the papers flies off from the pile and lands slowly onto the ground, he looks down at it quickly before going through the rest. "I think...you're going north to the bridge. Actually, yes, I'm certain you are."

"Very well." Owen responds, trying to cover any hint of disappointment. Patrolling the northern bridge was not exactly the most sought after post in the Porre military. "Let me get that for you.." Owen reaches down for the fallen piece of paper, and picks it up gently. He doesn't take a good look at it, but he scans the words before handing it over, and notices that quite a number were being sent north.

"Thank you." Korlad takes it, sticking it inside the current stack, and puts them back on the shelf. He exhales loudly. "Lot of work lately."

"And that blockade of Guardia won't help your popularity" Owen adds in.

The warmarshal smirks at his comment, perhaps expecting something to be said about it, as he goes back towards the desk. "What is popular, and what is right, are rarely the same thing." He plops back down on the chair tiredly, looking down at his helmet and sword, both still laying out on the desk. "Guardia..." He leans back, shaking his head, as if thinking of what more to say. "They have quietly pillaged our land of many important things over a long time. Then they sit back with their monarchy, hording powerful artifacts, and not giving a damn. Has Porre not sacrificed for the good of the world as well?"

"Very true, sir."

"And though some decisions might not be popular, the people both here and the commoners in Guardia realize this. And hopefully their leaders will see how things should be." He picks up the pen again and begins to write. Owen nods, a bit absently. "So if you can get to the bridge as soon as possible, that would be excellent." Korlad drops the pen again suddenly, standing up with some speed, holding out his hand towards Owen with a large smile. Though, the smile begins to fade as Owen looks down at his hand for a couple of seconds, but finally shakes it. "Thank you."

"Be well, sir."

III.

What an uneventful day, Owen thinks to himself. But at the same time, what a bad one. He had spent so much time away from home in the past year, he began to think that one day he would enter his home and his wife would not even recognize him.

The sun is still high in the sky. He would be able to make it to the bridge before midnight if he didn't linger too long. He stands, looking through the black visor at a small house, with a tiled blue roof, and a large wooden door at the top of a couple small stone steps. Time to break the unfortunate news to her, yet again.

He makes a slow ascension up to the door, pausing for a slight moment before opening it. The door creaks with quite a bit of noise, and he takes a long step inside, closing the door behind him. He looks to a young woman inside the kitchen, she looks out a window before turning at the noise. "Owen!" They move quickly to each other, embracing immediately. "I didn't know if you were coming back today." She says quietly to him as they continue their hug.

He sighs with a bit of guilt, before changing the subject. "How are you?" He rubs her shoulder gently, standing back.

"As good as I can be, I guess." She smiles warmly at him. "Why don't you have a seat, Owen?" She motions to a chair resting up against a small square table. He nods at her before going over to sit, meanwhile she goes back to where she was before he came in.

"How's our boy? Where is he anyways?" He asks, looking from side to side.

"Norris? Sleeping. He had a long day." She takes a quick peek at the stairs. "He looks just like his father, takes after him too." She smiles, looking over her shoulder.

"Not sure if that's a good thing or bad.." Owen responds, jokingly.

She frowns a little, turning her whole body around this time. "Speaking of...you're in your own house, Owen, can you please take that damn thing off?"

"Uhm.." He stumbles with the words. "No, I can't. Officers are strict about uniform."

"I don't see any officers here." She folds her arms.

Owen lets out a sigh, finally letting it out. "Alright...alright. I...I can't stay. I need to head north as soon as possible."

"Owen..." She says disappointedly.

"I know. But I have no say in the matter. I'm not sure how long I'll be gone either...A shame I can't see Norris, but I'll let him sleep. You will tell him I miss him, yes?"

"Of course." She states with little enthusiasm, her eyes wander downward sadly. Owen stands up from the kitchen table, moving over to her.

"Next time I come back, it'll be for a long time. And if they say I need to go do something, I'll tell them they can go and--" He smirks, leaving the sentence unfinished, prompting even his wife to smile a little.

"You better."

"I promise."


	3. Ill Omen

**Chrono Trigger: Protecting Our Future**

_The fall of Guardia from the view of a Porre soldier. One who went from admiring the heroes to conquering their home. Are they friend or foe? Will they need to come together to fight something bigger than themselves?_

I don't own Chrono Trigger or Chrono Cross, or the characters and settings that appeared in them. Some new characters and settings will be within though.

I.

_Time: 1005 AD_

**Ill Omen**

_...Clink...tap...tap..._

Lucca stands next to a long wooden table, fiddling with a flat looking device with many little metal prongs coming from it. She uses a screwdriver and wrench, adding and taking off pieces of it. Her helmet and gray bag sit close by hear, resting gently against one of the table legs. She lifts her glasses for a moment, looking down at her project. After staring for a few moments, she gives a small triumphant nod, placing her glasses back down.

"That should do.." She walks over towards the wall with a long wire, plugging it in. She rubs a hand quickly through her short purple hair, moving back to the table swiftly, stepping over an impressive mess of books on the floor, ones that her father had told her to pick up many times before.

"Now..." Lucca flips a small switch on the side of the flat panel. She leans down, listening.

_Bzzt_

She frowns, hearing the sound, and a small spark where the wire connects, but nothing more happens. "How about..." She flips a second switch, one that is a couple inches from the first. She flips back the first one, and then presses it forward again, apparently some sort of power switch.

_Bzzt_

Lucca sits back on a stool lazily, sighing heavily at the obvious lack of success. Her gaze moves from the table, piled with sketches, over to the window, out at the night sky, then over to the corner of the room, seeing Gato, always a fan favorite at the fairs. A few prototype robots also lay on the ground, deactivated, many of them show a strong resemblance to Robo.

"What to do now.." She asks herself. Her parents had left for a few days, leaving her alone in the small home south of Truce Village. She remains on the stool, deep in thought as always, over some unknown topic. Her ear flinches a little at the sound of a slight noise upstairs. It starts out low at first, but grows each passing second.

"_Gaaaah..."_

"Oh..." Lucca stands up swiftly, moving to a wooden door in the middle of the room. She opens it slowly, looking back and forth, a staircase on the left, and also another on the right. She briefly glances at a few flower pots, some of them empty, others have brown plans inside them.

Lucca spins left, ascending up the stairs, still hearing the small cry in the distance.

"_Gaaaah..."_

She reaches the top of the stairs, looking over the railing at a small child, wrapped in a blanket on top of her own bed. She begins to move quicker, keeping an eye on the child, but forgets to look down, tripping over a wire of one of her contraptions. She lands hard on the ground, her glasses falling off, rolling along the wooden floor. She winces a little, but doesn't seem to be hurt. The child on the bed stops fussing immediately, looking over at Lucca with widened eyes.

The pair of little eyes follows Lucca as she stands up slowly, wiping her sleeves, reaching down for her glasses. She inspects them for damage, then slips them on again and turns toward the bed.

"Lucca at your service!" She says, smiling cheerfully down at the small child, short strands of blonde hair come down over her forehead, she smiles back at Lucca.

"What do you need, Kid?" She asks, even though she knows no answer will come back. "Hm, let's see here..."

She still remembered the day she found Kid lying in the middle of the forest.

_She needed a break from home. All the work she had been doing. She always felt the need to do more, there was always something to fix, always something to think about, always something to plan. And unfortunately, always something to do for Porre, who had employed her for various tasks. Going out for a walk seemed like the best thing to do._

_Lucca had picked up a small robot she had worked on, turned it on, and brought it along with her. She wanted it to look just like Robo. Her friend, who was always on her mind, along with everyone else in the future, and the past. She still recalled the last time seeing him, going into the portal into an unknown future. One where he might not exist?_

_Despite the doubt, and the worry that was always there, she somehow felt he was alright. Robo was somewhere, and he was happy, she was sure of it._

_Lucca watched the small gray robot waddle around next to her, spinning around, even doing a couple of flips. She was so proud, it was her best finished product to date. It's steps were loud, the metal hitting against stones and dirt, the mechanical arms and legs flailed about._

_Something had caught her eye that day._

_She had been switching her attention between the robot and the clear blue sky above when a bright light reached the corner of her eye, amidst the tree's and bushes of the forest._

_Lucca stopped, her eyes widened, looking at the glowing coming through the leaves, her mouth dropped a little, moving slowly over to it. She parted a few branches and looked to a small clearing within all the plants. A child had been left there. It was wrapped tightly in a white blanket, with a glowing pendant around its neck. The chain and the pendant itself was gold, with a large blue gem in the middle, the entire thing reflecting the sun and glowing brightly._

_A small smile crept to Lucca's face as she reached down and picked up the child. Their eyes met immediately, and from that day, she took care of her as if she was her own sibling. They seemed to have a special bond. It was almost a full year to the day since she found Kid._

_Was it fate (perhaps a poor choice of words) that brought them together?_

(bmm bmm bmm)

Lucca shakes her head quickly, finally realizing she was nearly in a trance thinking about the memories. She listens again closely, hearing the knocks on the door.

(bmm bmm bmm)

She looks down at Kid, who is still smiling silently at her. "Sorry, I'll be right back! Always something to do..." Lucca spins around, stepping carefully over the same wire she fell from before, charging the down stairs with some speed. She takes a quick peek out the window before swinging the door open.

"Hey guys!" She says cheerfully, though her eyes give away she probably doesn't have as much energy as her voice may hint.

"Lucca!" Marle nearly runs in, embracing her friend quickly before stepping back. She wears the same light blue attire with baggy pants that she had worn on their past adventures. Crono walks in behind her, holding a child of his own, smiling at the two.

"Oh! You brought your boy with you. I've only seen him a couple times since he was born...He's been growing, for sure." Lucca eyes the kid, the smile still there. She adjusts her glasses, looking between the two with a bit of concern. "You guys are dropping by a bit late?"

Marle looks to Crono for a brief moment, they exchange an odd glance, then she looks down reluctantly, kicking her feet a little. "Lucca, sorry to do this...but we need to ask a favor of you..."

"Of course, what do you need?" She turns around abruptly, scanning the room. "Come in and sit if you need to, I should have cleared this mess anyways..."

"No, that's alright Lucca. We're tired and can only stay for a bit. But...can you look after our son for a few days?"

"You guys should know you don't even have to ask!" Lucca begins to pile up scattered drawings into a single, neat stack. "I should drop science and focus on childcare at this rate!"

Marle chuckles lightly, looking back at Crono.

"Would be less stressful.." Lucca adds, nearly inaudibly. She looks up from the table at the pair in wonder. "You guys traveling or.." She flinches, remembering some of the current events involving Porre and the blockade. "I mean...ehm...something going on?"

"We...We just don't have a good feeling about things right now." Crono says, his spike red hair still in its old form, as well as his clothing. "It'd be best if he was out of the castle for a little while anyways." Crono moves next to the table, holding the child, handing it to Lucca, who takes him gently.

"I agree." She looks down at the boy and gives a nod. "Hey, Crono..." He turns around, looking back at Lucca. "Any word on your Mo--"

"No." Crono says quickly and coldly. He frowns a little.

"I'm sure things will be alright." Lucca says, reassuringly. Crono gives no response, and after a little while of awkward silence, she changes the subject. "I'll bring him upstairs, he'll have better company up there."

"How is she?" Crono finally breaks his silence again.

"Good." Lucca smiles a little.

"We should get going then." Marle says, yawning.

"Wish you guys could stay longer. We don't spend as much time together as we used to." Lucca sighs. "I guess that is my fault more than anything though.." Her tone quickly changes as her head snaps back up. "Oh, Crono." She opens a wooden drawer, looking down, holding the boy with one hand, and going through the disorganized desk with the other. She grabs a small white bag, grasping it tightly. She shuts the drawer with her free hand, still holding the bag. She walks over, slipping it to Crono and whispers to him. "If things ever get too bad to handle, always have something up your sleeve." She winks at him, Crono merely looks down blinking, then puts the bag in his pocket without questioning further. "Just be careful, you guys."

"We will." Crono slides the door open again, walking out into the darkness. Marle follows, turning her head to Lucca, giving a quick smile, before following behind.


	4. A New Day Will Dawn

**Chrono Trigger: Protecting Our Future**

_The fall of Guardia from the view of a Porre soldier. One who went from admiring the heroes to conquering their home. Are they friend or foe? Will they need to come together to fight something bigger than themselves?_

I don't own Chrono Trigger or Chrono Cross, or the characters and settings that appeared in them. Some new characters and settings will be within though.

I.

_Time: 1005 A.D._

**A New Day Will Dawn**

And that is how it begins. The fall of Guardia has come without horns sounding, without armies meeting to fight gloriously on the field of battle. Soon after Owen had arrived at the bridge, a large portion of the Porre army crossed, large cannons bombarding the Kingdom in the distance from long range. They began their assault on Guardia in the dead of night, like thieves.

Owen staggers about the area right beyond the Zenan bridge. They had wanted the element of surprise, unfortunately it came at the expense of mass confusion amongst their own ranks. To Truce first? The castle? Who knew?

Owen's feet take tired and slow steps, one after the other, above the dirt ground he walks on. He looks out over the large plain between the bridge and the forest near the castle. The once green and peaceful lands are now covered with craters, much of the ground burnt out from Porre's assault. Only a few patches of green remain, barely visible through the smoke and dust.

How did it come to this? Everything seemed to be going so fast.

The helmeted soldier begins to pick up his speed slightly, hearing voices in the distance, but no one is close by to him. His foot begins to come down again as he tries to avoid tripping on rocks and the sides of small craters. As he does so a large explosion goes off next to him. The dirt and smoke come at him like a wall, knocking him down into one of the holes, he falls hard into it.

"Ungh..."

The figure slowly leans his head back up, he runs his fingers softly through the dirt, clutching a small handful of it, as if to check he is still alive somehow. He begins to try to kneel on his knees, falling over a second time. All the noises around him are dimmed down from the deafening blast. The explosions in the distance sound no more than rain drops falling on a roof to him as he scrambles blindly inside the hole.

Owen continues to feel around, trying to reorient himself with his situation. His hand falls upon a solid object rolling slowly across the dirt. He moves his fingers up and down it before turning his entire body towards it, still kneeling. The figure looks down at the object, cupping his hands gently around the bottom of his helmet.

He turns his head to the side, as if listening to a voice nearby, though he begins to realize it is his own voice.

_I hope I can meet them some day.._

He gets a better grip on the helmet before lifting it up in one swift, yet smooth motion back on top of his head, before nearly falling forward again.

"Hey!"

Owen spins around, in almost full rotation, barely able to see anything through the artificial fog that surrounds him. He notices a bright light in one direction, the forest in front of the castle, a large part of it burning. He keeps spinning on the ground after hearing the voice, his hearing returning slowly. He stops again, spotting his gun on the ground nearby, it is still in tact. Owen crawls on all fours, retrieving his weapon, before listening in further.

"Can you tell those guys to recalibrate that damn thing?" The hidden voice says in an annoyed tone.

"Yes, sir."

"Uhm...Hurry?!" The voice nearly yells out, a slight pause comes in between before the invisible figure returns to a more patient tone. "Thank you."

Owen stands up, by his stance it is quite clear he is dizzy and slightly beat up. He reaches a hand over the edge of the crater, pulling himself up with most of his remaining strength. He picks up his gun again, coming fully to his feet after getting out, he looks around again, not seeing a single person.

"The siege was suppose to make way for the rest of us..."

A voice sounds out, Owen spins around, flinching from being startled. He looks at a man who came walking out of the smoke, he seems to be middle aged, brown hair with a slight hint of gray, wearing a pretty elegant blue uniform.

"...Not inflict self casualties." He adds in, finishing off the sentence after examining Owen up and down. "...You alright?"

"Yes, sir." Owen responds, panting quite heavily.

"What's your situation?"

Owen shakes his head slowly. "We all got split up shortly after crossing the bridge. Then I got hit with something, and now I don't know where everyone went.."

"That's alright, you've just been reassigned to me." The officer gives off a slight smile. "Meaning you can hang back here for a while rather than jump back into the fray."

"Thank you, sir." Owen looks down at his arm and legs, looking for any blood, he doesn't spot any immediately.

"You're the only one under my command right now." The officer says casually, sitting on top of a large rock.

"Oh?" Owen turns to examining his weapon now, looking to see if the blast wrecked it, though it seems to look alright.

"Special mission. Korlad will be crossing the bridge soon. He has some errands to run before going to the castle...said he wanted a small escort to not attract attention."

"And that'd be me and you, Captain?" Owen asks curiously.

"Aye...us indeed." He taps his chin, waiting. The officer lets out a large exhale. "I saw that hit you took, you sure you're alright?"

"Yeah, everything seems to be ok." Owen looks back through his visor.

"Porre needs more guys like you. If I took a hit like that I'd be limping around yelling at them to let me go home." The officer smirks. He reaches down to his side, pulling off a small bottle from his belt. He slowly turns the top cap off, letting it drop to the ground in front of him, and begins to chug the contents. He let's out another loud exhale, "Whew." He rolls his neck, taking a peek back towards the bridge, he stands up quickly. "That looks like him, let's go."

II.

Lucca sits quietly at her freshly cleared table, writing enthusiastically on a piece of paper. She can hear all of the explosions, but the distance her house is from the castle make them less severe. She abruptly drops her pen, standing up from the desk. She walks over to the window, parting the blinds to look in between them. She watches bright flashes and fires, contrasted by the night sky. She will not be getting much sleep tonight.

None of this was a surprise to Lucca. She knew something was coming. Didn't everyone? Even Crono and Marle knew it was coming. Yes, they knew, it was just a matter of when. Luckily their timing had been good enough to entrust their child away from danger just hours before the attack began. Now the responsibility is with her.

Maybe all the racket is too far off to wake the two children upstairs, Lucca thinks to herself, but probably not. They were both usually light sleepers.

Thoughts of her friends begin to enter Lucca's mind now. Are they alright? Do they have a plan? What can she do? Little at this point. What can one girl do against the Porre military that has already begun their attack.

Lucca turns from the window, not wanting to see anymore, she sighs heavily, leaning her elbow on the desk tiredly.

She slowly takes off her glasses, laying them on the desk, closing her eyes. "Why is this happening? ... What now?"

An empty feeling had begun to creep in as she heard the first of the assault earlier. Perhaps the realization that, even though Lavos was defeated, the problems of the world would not go away, no matter how hard they wanted them to.

_WHAM WHAM WHAM_

Lucca nearly falls off the stool, losing her train of though due to the aggressive knocking at the door. "Huh..?" She reaches quickly for her glasses, sliding them back on. She stands up, moving swifly to the window to look outside in front of the door. She gasps, seeing three dark figures standing there.

"Just a moment!" She shouts, so it is audible to those outside. She swings open the middle door, nearly running full speed up the stairs. She looks to the two children in her room, one begins to cry, while the other fusses as well.

Lucca picks up one of the children in particular and holds it close to herself, it begins to cry louder and louder. "No, please..."

The child has its eyes closed tightly as it continues to weep. "Please...Let me handle this, then we will go find your Mom and Dad, please don't cry.." Lucca nearly pleads with Crono and Marle's kid. She looks around her room frantically for a place to put him. She spots a line of cupboards along the wall, and begins to move towards them, wrapping the baby tightly in a white blanket.

"I know it's dark, but I'll be back in just a little while.." She places the baby inside, and closes the door of the cupboard. She leans in, listening for any noise. There is a slight sniffling, but she nods her head in satisfaction.

"Coming!" She shouts again for those outside as she comes crashing down the stairs, jogging to the door to open it. She takes a deep breathe and swings it open, looking to those who are outside in the darkness.

"W-Warmarshal...c-come in." Lucca says politely, her voice though seems like it is about to break.

The tall man steps through the opening, he has all his armor on, including his rusty helmet over his head. His pale hair trails behind him as always. Two soldiers follow in behind him, one in full armor as well, and a helmet with a black visor. The other soldier wears less, just a normal uniform, he drinks casually out of a small bottle.

"Lucca...good to see you again." The deep voice emits out from under the helmet. The man seems to be looking around the room carefully.

"Do...Do you need something, sir?" Lucca asks. She takes a peek down at her hand, which is trembling slightly. She holds it behind her back so the others don't notice.

"Just business." Korlad says quietly. Lucca moves back to behind the desk, moving papers around, trying to look busy. Korlad finishes his quick scan of the room and walks slowly over to the opposite side of the desk from Lucca, looking at her, though she doesn't seem to be able to return the eye contact.

"We are busy tonight if you haven't noticed. So I will keep this brief." Korlad's voice remains flat and steady. "...Have you had any visitors lately?"

Lucca begins to blink quicker and quicker, still fussing nervously with drawings on her desk. "Visitors..." She repeats. "Uhm...Well...Uhm..." Her trembling hand moves up towards a can on her desk. She had been using it to store pencils for her drawings. She knocks the can off the desk, watching as it crashes against the wooden floor, pencils and pens fly out in all directions. A single pencil begins to roll across the ground in Korlad's direction, it stops just inches from his foot. He looks down at it before looking back up, his cold gaze rests suspiciously on the girl in front of him, he remains silent.

Lucca winces as the can falls to the ground. She breathes in heavily, yet quietly, before finally looking up, meeting Korlad's stare. "No." She says, much more confidently. Her attention then turns to the helmet he wears. She spots a dried spot of blood. It seems like blood splattered on his helmet, then a single drop began to run down it before finally drying in place. She shrieks a little at this display.

"That had better be the case." He says, with the exact same tone as before. "I don't like 'accidents' to happen to those who have done things for Porre. Would be a shame."

Lucca gulps, just giving a nod to him, she looks very shortly at the two soldiers behind him, one on Korlad's left side, the other on the right. They barely even move as all this goes on.

Korlad's glare turns to the balcony above the main room of Lucca's house. He seems to scan across it, as if being able to see more than what is clearly visible. Lucca watches him with a little worry, but he merely nods as well. He turns quickly, his cape and hair flap up in unison and he charges back out the door. The two soldiers turn and follow with much less enthusiasm, as the trio goes back out into the night.


End file.
